Box Office: Shrek Decks Persian Sex

If nothing else, “Sex and the City 2″ proves that as long as you do it under the guise of “grrl power”, you can get away with pretty much anything, even a movie that is essentially about four over-the-hill chicks slutting it up onscreen. Thanks to its primarily large girl fanbase (and dudes wishing they were girls), “Sex and the City 2″ easily sand blasted Jake Gyllenhaal’s first foray into action-adventure territory this week. According to studio estimates, “Sex and the City 2″ cleared $32 million in its debut ($46 if you include its early Thursday opening), while “Prince of Persia” came in second with $30. Even so, both films failed to top last week’s #1, “Shrek Forever After”, which held onto first place with another $43 million haul in its second week.

After a disappointing opening last week (at least compared to its previous three outings), the latest “Shrek” movie has improved to $133 million in total earnings for two weeks. Including its limited overseas opening, “Shrek Forever After” has earned $158 million worldwide so far. The film is still on course to turn a profit, but seems destined to fall well short of the previous three films in the franchise, including part two, which holds the record with just under $920 million back in 2004. “Shrek the Third” is second on the list, while the first “Shrek” movie made $484 million back in 2001. “Shrek Forever After” doesn’t look like it’ll come anywhere close to that number, which is just another indication that the franchise is out of steam.

Notables:

“MacGruber’s” drop from sixth place (in its debut last week) to ninth this week proves once and for all that “Saturday Night Live” creations should remain on “Saturday Night Live”. Or at least, the really shitty ones.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man 2″ falls two spots to fourth place, and has surpassed $550 million in four weeks of release. At this rate, the sequel should overtake the original’s $585 million total in another couple of weeks, give or take.

Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe’s “Robin Hood”, meanwhile, continues its poor showing in the States, taking fifth place in its third week of release, adding an additional $10 million to its coffers. The expensive period actioner (the official budget stands at $200 million) has made just $83 million at the Stateside box office so far, though its $154 million overseas take gives it $237 million.